I was working up until the deadline for the jam on the game, and got some good testing in before I finalized everything. There were a couple things that slipped through the cracks because of time, and we plan on addressing them in the future. That said, we accomplished our goals this time around, and that’s something to be happy about.
- Successful submission: for our skill, tools, and time commitment, I’d say this game was as polished as it could be. It’s only 72 hours, after all. This is a lot better than last time, when we didn’t submit anything at all.
- Canvas Desktop game: check. This game works on a desktop in most major browsers so far, and it runs decently, too. Even after a couple rounds and a lot of characters being rendered to the screen, it keeps up.
- Mobile version: is the same as desktop. Size, controls, and display were all taken into account at the very beginning when laying everything out. This game has been tested on a couple android devices and an older Ipad. Some of the default android browsers get a tad laggy with the game, though. Chrome for android works really well. Playable on mobile is a check!
Last night after playing a lot of the games here, I started comparing the game to others. There are good and bad things about doing this (just like comparing yourself to others), but I think the main thing I’ll takeaway is that for next time, I’ll try using a library like Phaser, Melon, or Three.js. Seeing some html games that used libraries is like looking at game I might find in a store, for whatever console/device. I didn’t want to futz around with learning a whole new library for this competition, though. I enjoyed working through everything myself and practicing OOP techniques along the way. I enjoy working in the trenches like that. It just means that when I want a feature, I need to make it myself, instead of relying on it being built already. So until the next LD challenge, I’ll be investing time into a js library.
It’s great to read comments. People here seem to be very respectful and mindful, and that’s refreshing. Based on some feedback and our own concerns when we play, these are some things we want to address in the next version of Stuck in Pimbo:
- Asset Preloader: didn’t get to build one in, and that can cause issues for people with strained internet connections. I know I should practice what I teach, so this is priority number 1 for me.
- Revised Controls: or revised randomness of the movement of the Pims in all stages. People complain about not understanding the controls, so we’ll find something better. Possible additions to this is adding an initial ‘walkthrough’ state that prompts you to do stuff.
- Better Collision Detection: I played with a number of different ways of detecting collisions between elements, some working better than others. I think other libraries have this down pat, so I’ll study those and improve what I’ve built myself.
- Script Efficiency: I want to make this game smooth. Smooth transitions, smooth gameplay on older, slower devices, smooth.
- Refined UI: focusing on building the game mechanics, I left the ui pretty simple. I bet it looks like a turd to most. I like to just say it leaves you to appreciate the game graphics. :p
If you haven’t played yet, I highly recommend jumping in! The game works in your browser, and features some cute pixel ghosts.
